About Handel Sonatas
Six sonatas are aimed for recorder, while the other ones are aimed for oboe, recorder flute, and violin. As it was customary at the time, the autographs did not always explicitly state for which instrument they were aimed. Yet, in many cases, it can be deduced only from the tessitura, the key, or the music’s nature. Four of them (HWV 362 in A minor, HWV 365 in C major, HWV 369 in F major, and HWV 360 in G minor) appeared in the aforementioned editions by Walsh and Chrysander. In Walsh’s edition, the Sonata HWV 367a in D minor was transposed to B minor for transverse flute (Sonata HWV 367b). The autograph of this sonata and the autograph of the Sonata HWV 377 in B flat, preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, set the grounds of Thurston Dart’s edition of 1948, titled Fitzwilliam Sonatas, which randomly redistributed the original material.
It may come as a shock that Handel chose the pure and linear timbre of the recorder to perform such a theatrical repertoire. The appearance of the recorder was often related to pastoral scenes and tended to imitate birdsong, and so it was in Handel’s vocal music most of the time. In sonatas, though, the player faces an unusual range of expressive registers, which reach their peak with the fervent Furioso of the Sonata HWV 367a in D minor. The player must make the most of their resources to make the audience experience the passions of each movement. One of these resources is liberal ornamentation, which was made popular by Handelian singers. […] (Agostino Cirillo)
David Antich
Concertist and recorder teacher. He studied in the conservatories of Carcaixent and Valencia, and graduated in flute and recorder at the Conservatory of Murcia, under the direction of Agostino Cirillo, obtaining top marks and various awards during his studies. He attended courses on Early Music and performance practice in Spain and diverse European countries, working with teachers asRicardo Kanji, Pierre Hamon, Aldo Abreu, Bart Coen y Josep Maria Saperas, etc. With Capella de Ministrers and other ensembles, he has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, Africa, United States and Latin America. He has recorded for Channel 9, TVE, TV3, RNE, Catalunya Ràdio and for various Asian, North African, European and American television and radio stations, performing in the main cycles and festivals of ancient and baroque music (Utrecht, Fez, Lyon, Paris, Roma, Praga, Amsterdam, México DF, New York, Shangai, etc.)
His discography includes 50 discs of Early, Renaissance and Baroque Music. Some of these albums have been recognized and awarded by international critics in specialized press. He is founding member of Bach Fussion Ensemble and Mediterrània Consort and he is also a frequent collaborator of Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, Al Ayre Español, Capella de Ministrers, Orquesta Barroca La Dispersione, Harmonia del Parnàs, Speculum, Musica Ficta, etc. He also takes part in avant-garde projects such as Amores, grup de percussió. He plays regularly with the Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana (Palau de les Arts).
He has worked with contemporary dance companies (El Lamento de Tristano, with Lais danza – Toni Aparisi; Lamento, with Santiago Sempere) and in stage productions (Cancionero de Palacio, with Àlex Rigola; Las comedias bárbaras, with Bigas Luna; Els Viatges de Tirant, with Juli Leal). He published with Carles Magraner a critical edition of “El Tutor Burlado o La Madrileña” by Vicente Martín y Soler. He publishes regularly pedagogical material for recorder and articles on musical pedagogy in journals such as Participación Educativa (Spanish Ministry of Education), ANPE, Doce Notas, Música y Educación, Eufonía, etc. He teaches in the Early Music Course of Guadassuar (Valencia) and he’s often invited to teach master-classes and courses of recorder and chamber music in diverse Spanish conservatories (Madrid, Málaga, etc). He also works for the teacher training programs of the Valencian Government and other institutions. He’s member of the board of the Conservatory of Torrent, where he teaches recorder.
